Victorian Teams Championship

Chess is an individual sport, the ultimate one on one mind struggle. But there are great benefits to forming team leagues as the camaraderie between team members and the sharing of ideas and information between team members can amount to a great social activity, and a great learning experience. I remember growing up in England and team chess being my main form of competition. Besides playing my games, and analysing with my opponents I would follow the efforts of my team mates (who were usually stronger than me) and watch their analysis, and then the team would sometimes meet to further look at the games and analyse any adjourned games.

Chess in Victoria has been sadly lacking in team chess for the past few years, but this year a new competition has started and it has been well received by virtually all the players and clubs involved. The state body, Chess Victoria, are responsible for the event but each match is managed by the teams involved. There are teams of 4 picked from squads of up to 7 and there are currently 2 divisions. The competition in both divisions is very close which has also captured the imagination of players and administrators alike.

I am currently playing in division 1 for the MCC 2 team. My team on paper looks like one of the weakest, but we have fought well and won one game, drawn another and lost one. With 3 points for a team win and 1 for a draw, this puts us just behind the leaders at around the half way mark. I am thoroughly enjoying playing team chess again, and will report more as the games happen. For instance, my next match is next Tuesday.